This site offers insight on alternative investments besides Wall Street. This includes tax deeds, tax liens, and other types of foreclosures.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Could Tax Liens Help You Reach Your Financial Goals Faster and Safer?

Here's an article about tax liens by Nicholas Brown.

Could Tax Liens Help You Reach Your Financial Goals Faster and Safer? by Nicholas Brown

Tax Lien

Lately, there has been a great deal of buzz around the topic of tax liens. Savvy people (I assume you are savvy since you are actually researching this topic) are using tax lien certificates for two reasons. The first reason tax lien certificates are used is to gain high interest returns at very low risk. The other use is to use them to obtain properties for a considerable discount. Now I consider myself a pretty smart individual, so I decided to put some time into researching tax liens. I needed to get an idea of what tax liens were and how I could use them to my advantage to get ahead financially, which is something I am sure you can relate to. Thus I took to studying everything I could find on tax liens. After exploring the internet and reading different e-books, I've built up a great deal of knowledge on the subject of tax liens.

First, let's start off with what a tax lien is and then we'll go from there. A tax lien is a type of lien that is placed on a title when the owner of that title has not paid property or assessment taxes or other state and federal taxes. Okay, now that you know what a tax lien is, I am sure you are saying, "Yeah, yeah, that's nice. But how can I use them to my benefit?" So I'll get on to the good part on how you can profit from tax liens. There are actually two ways that you can make money with very low risk to yourself.

The first way of course is in the case that the owner fails to pay the back taxes in order to release the lien. If this happens, then the investor (you) collects the title to the property for a small percentage of its actual value. The second way is in the event that the owner does pay the taxes to get the property back. If that happens, then you get your initial investment restored back to you. In addition, you also get the interest earned on the purchase price at an annual percentage rate mandated by that certain state. If you're looking for a way attain some additional cash flow to help relieve the burden of daily expenses, then you need an investment that is sure to earn you money at a solid rate. Tax liens are the answer and many people are beginning to figure this out.

Okay, GO! Just kidding...there's a little more work to it than that. I mean anything worth engaging in comes with some work. Now I don't want to scare you off, because it's actually not difficult. There just has to be certain things that you make sure you do. To begin with, each state has a different process when it comes to tax lien purchases. It is very critical for you to learn the facts before getting started. Make sure to find out about the laws in each state on tax liens. Each state typically holds a sale for tax liens only one or two set months per year, and those months differ from state to state. Be sure to know the interest rates for each state. In most cases, this ranges from 16% on up to 50% in some rare instances. Check your savings account interest rate and you will see that is has never yielded anything close to those numbers. Now you can check each states current rate manually but if you're as busy as me, then you don't have the time for that. You can find an inexpensive information booklet about how to obtain a tax lien that simplifies all of this by visiting my site. Tax LienAbout the Author

Nicholas Brown is an investor that loves any and every thing that has to do with real estate. He is 22 and already has made a small fortune. He is always looking for unique ways to get greater returns on his investments.